Kevin Y L 
TAN

 
Adjunct Professor

Editor-in Chief, Asian Journal of Comparative Law

Member

Cluster Coordinator (Comparative Public Law)

Kevin YL Tan specialises in Constitutional and Administrative Law, the Singapore Legal System, Singapore Legal History, International Law and International Human Rights. He graduated with an LLB (Hons) from the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore and holds an LLM and JSD from the Yale Law School. He is currently Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Senior Fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

FULL BIOGRAPHY

Contact

lawtylk@nus.edu.sg
(65) 6516-4192
FED-02-39

Education

JSD, LLM (Yale); LLB (NUS)

Current Courses

Singapore Law in Context

Constitutional & Administrative Law

Kevin YL Tan specialises in Constitutional and Administrative Law, the Singapore Legal System, Singapore Legal History, International Law and International Human Rights. He graduated with an LLB (Hons) from the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore and holds an LLM and JSD from the Yale Law School. He is currently Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Senior Fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

He has published widely in his areas of specialisation and has written and edited over 60 books on law, history and politics. Among his publications are: Constitutional and Administrative Law in Singapore (2021); Constitutional Principles and Institutions in Malaysia: Text, Cases and Materials (2023), and Constitutional Rights in Malaysia: Text Cases & Materials (2023) [both with Jaclyn L Neo]; The Lamp of the Law: 60 Years of Legal Education at NUS Law (2017); Fiat Justitia: A History of the Law Society of Singapore (2017); and The Constitution of Singapore: A Contextual Analysis (2015).

Kevin has served on the editorial board of several leading legal journals, including as Chief Editor of the Singapore Journal of International and Comparative Law (1998–2000); Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Yearbook of International Law (2010–2018), and Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Journal of Comparative Law (since 2020). Kevin also serves as series editor of the Hart series on Constitutionalism in Asia (with Li-ann Thio and Jaclyn L Neo).

Books
Kevin Y.L. Tan and Jaclyn L. Neo, Constitutional Principles and Institutions: Text, Cases & Materials (Sweet & Maxwell 2023)

Kevin Y.L. Tan and Jaclyn L. Neo, Constitutional Rights: Text, Cases & Materials (Sweet & Maxwell 2023)

Kevin Y.L. Tan and Thio Li-ann, Constitutional and Administrative Law: Cases, Materials and Commentary (Academy Publishing 2021)

Edited Books
Kevin Y.L. Tan and Michael Ng (eds), Constitutional Foundings in Northeast Asia (Bloomsbury Publishing 2021)

Kevin Y.L. Tan and Terence Lee (eds), Voting in a Time of Change: Singapore’s 2020 General Election (Ethos Books 2021)

Kevin Y.L. Tan, David Cohen and Aviva Nabahan (eds), Human Rights and ASEAN: Indonesian and International Perspectives (World Scientific 2021)

Kevin Y.L. Tan and Ridwanul Hoque (eds), Constitutional Foundings in South Asia (Hart Publishing 2021)

Book Chapters
Kevin Y L Tan, 'Separation of Powers' in Sujit Choudhry, Michaela Hailbronner and Mattias Kumm (eds), Global Canons in an Age of Contestation: Debating Foundational Texts of Constitutional Democracy and Human Rights (Oxford University Press 2024) 157

Kevin Y.L. Tan, 'Democratic Policing in an Authoritarian State?: A Historical Look at Singapore' in Weitseng Chen and Hualing Fu (eds), Regime Type and Beyond: The Transformation of Police in Asia (Cambridge University Press 2023) 267

Kevin Y.L. Tan, 'ASEAN Law: Content, Applicability and Challenges' in Diane A Desierto and David J Cohen (eds), ASEAN Law and Regional Integration: Governance and the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia’s Single Market (Routledge 2021) 39

Dian A. H. Shah and Kevin Y.L Tan, 'Indigenous Interactions: Administrative Law and the Syariah in Malaysia' in Swati Jhaveri and Michael Ramsden (eds), Judicial Review of Administrative Action Across the Common Law World (Cambridge University Press 2021) 234

Jaclyn L Neo and Kevin Y.L. Tan, 'Judicial Minimalism as Towering: Singapore’s Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong' in Rehan Abeyratne and Iddo Porat (eds), Towering Judges: A Comparative Study of Constitutional Judges (Cambridge University Press 2021) 134

Kevin Y.L Tan, 'Delineation and Discretion: The Drawing of Electoral Boundaries in Singapore' in Kevin YL Tan and Terence Lee (eds), Voting in a Time of Change: Singapore’s 2020 General Election (Ethos Books 2021) 87

Kevin Y.L Tan, 'International Human Rights in the Constitutional Orders of the ASEAN States: A Preliminary Survey' in Kevin YL Tan, David Cohen and Aviva Nababan (eds), Human Rights and ASEAN: Indonesian and International Perspectives (World Scientific 2021) 99

Kevin Y.L. Tan, 'Religious Penal Clauses in Commonwealth Asia: A Brief History' in Thio Li-ann and Jaclyn L Neo (eds), Religious Offences in Common Law Asia: Colonial Legacies, Constitutional Rights and Contemporary Practice (Hart Publishing 2021)

Journal Articles
Kevin Y.L. Tan, 'Interpreting the constitution: The Use and Abuse of History' [2023] International Journal of Constitutional Law

Representative Publications

Kevin Y.L. Tan, Wen-chen Chang, Li-ann Thio and Jiunn-rong Yeh, Constitutionalism in Asia: Cases & Materials (Oxford: Hart, 2014)

Kevin Y.L. Tan, Singapore and International Law: The Early Years (Singapore: Centre for International Law, 2011)

Kevin Y.L. Tan and Terence Lee, Voting in Change: Politics of Singapore’s 2011 General Election (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2011)

Kevin Y.L. Tan and Thio Li-ann, Constitutional Law in Malaysia and Singapore 3 ed (Singapore: Lexis Nexis, 2010)

Kevin Y.L. Tan, Marshall of Singapore: A Biography (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009)

Kevin Y.L. Tan, ‘Defaming Politicians, Scandalising the Courts: A Look at Recent Developments in Singapore’ in Andrew T Kenyon, Tim Marjoribanks & Amandan Whiting (eds), Democracy, Media and Law in Malaysia and Singapore (London: Routledge, 2014) 105-128

Kevin Y.L. Tan, ‘International Law in the Courts of the Straits Settlements’ (2010) 16 Asian Yearbook of International Law 65-86


  • Singapore Legal System
  • Singapore Legal History
  • Constitutional and Administrative Law
  • International Human Rights
  • Law & Society
  • Legal Theory